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Sin Tax Eyed for Firearms and Ammo

I found this article on Fox News.com and I am sure I will not see it anywhere else, save maybe a not so mainstream news outlet. I wanted to post it here just so I could get the word out. I know there are many politicians in both the state house legislatures and in that cess pool Washington DC who think they are under some sort of mandate, or have self imposed pressure upon themselves to pander to anti-gun forces.

No matter what proposal they come up with, the only people they are restricting and “punishing” are the very citizens who are can legally own firearms. I have yet to see one measure aimed at the criminals who are not allowed to own, purchase, much less possess a firearm. Notice I said politician, I did not say statesman or statesperson. A politician is just that, a lawmaker who has no integrity other than to him or her self. These self proclaimed saviors of our society had better get it through their collective heads that they can pass all the laws they want restricting, banning, and taxing firearms and ammunition all they want, but it does not make any difference to the criminal element. After all by the very definition of criminal means they will not obey the law anyway.

Politicians love to control other peoples lives. They love to control. Yes it is control that they want. The control to tell every law abiding citizen what they can and can’t do, will and they won’t do, allow and disallow as the politicians see fit. A free society cannot hope to remain free if there are processes that serve to keep the masses in check and seek to keep those in power in power to pass whatever laws they deem necessary to protect their very status. History is littered with examples of what happens to those societies that have attempted to force its citizens to give up their only means of keeping government power in check. I submit these recent examples of gun control failure and the result or rising crime rates and in some cases the rise of a totalitarian governments. Australia, Great Britain, USSR , Nazi Germany, in our country it is very easy to see that the stark differences between the States that have concealed carry, and do have sensible gun laws, and the States that have no sensible gun laws. Illinois is the only state does not have concealed carry, and our crime rate is high. Mostly, the states that have Democratic majorities have the high crime rates and restrictive gun laws, while the states that have Republican majorities are not much better, but do have more relaxed gun laws. Guess what their crime rates are? Draw your own conclusion here. If you do not allow the people a way to protect themselves when the government cannot do so, then those people/citizens have in effect been sentenced to the role of sheep with the criminals being cast as the wolves to prey upon them. As most politicians are want to do when the SHTF from the rules of Unintended Consequences, they wring their hands and come up with other ways to not look the real problem in the eye and deal with it ( see the Deficit problem if you are not sure what I mean).

With that said here is the article:

If you can’t ban ’em, tax ’em.

Lawmakers looking to more tightly regulate firearms in the wake of the Newtown school shooting and other massacres are moving at the state and federal levels to introduce new taxes on firearms and ammunition.

The proposals range from the modest — a proposed 5 percent tax in New Jersey — to the steep — a proposed 50 percent ammo tax in Maryland. The bills follow efforts to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and expand background checks, measures that have had mixed success at the state level.

The taxes — much like so-called “sin taxes,” like those on cigarettes — serve a dual purpose. They can deter buyers, while using the extra revenue for favored programs. In this case, the sponsors want to direct the money toward mental health services, police training and victims’ treatment.

“If anything, gun owners ought to be getting a tax rebate for helping reduce crime,” said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

He said the purpose of the taxes is to “frustrate and limit the exercise of the Second Amendment.” While noting some of the revenue from these taxes and fees would go to victims’ services, Keane said those paying the tax are mostly not those responsible for gun crime.

“We’re obviously extremely opposed to try to tax the lawful exercise of the Second Amendment rights by law-abiding Americans,” he told FoxNews.com.

Firearms manufacturers already pay a federal tax, which goes toward wildlife conservation. A tax on sales would make firearms costlier.

At the federal level, Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., proposed a bill that would impose a 10 percent tax on “any concealable” firearm. The revenue would be used to help fund a national gun buyback program. The bill is still in committee.

At the state level in California, Democratic state Rep. Roger Dickinson last month introduced a bill to impose a 5-cent tax on every bullet.

“A limited tax on ammunition is a small price to pay for better mental health care for children in our state,” he said in a recent statement. The revenue from the tax would go toward screening young people for mental illness.

Several other states have introduced similar measures. Massachusetts state Rep. David Linsky is pushing a 25 percent sales tax on ammunition and firearms. Maryland state Rep. Jon Cardin has introduced a bill imposing a 50 percent tax on ammo, and an annual $25 gun registration fee.

And according to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Assembly Majority Leader William Horne is pushing a draft bill that would include a $25 per gun sales tax, in addition to a 2-cent tax for every round of ammunition.

The tax proposals are just one element of a multi-front campaign by pro-gun control lawmakers to rein in firearms.

While some states — particularly Colorado — have moved full-steam ahead with new gun regulation, the movement on Capitol Hill has been more restrained. A Senate committee last week voted to enhance penalties on illegal gun buys, but other bills are still on hold.

President Obama, who got the ball rolling on gun legislation but has not said much publicly on the topic since, plans to speak to supporters and donors on Wednesday in Washington — where he is expected to touch on the gun control issue.

One thought on “Sin Tax Eyed for Firearms and Ammo”

Tonight I have many topics to discuss, so I will not be taking phone calls tonight, as I want to get through as many as possible. There will be a fb video feed of the broadcast on the CRN Group page. I am also using my backup computer since my primary one crashed, thank you Microsoft for the crap update.

Tonight I will talk about YOU. Who are you? What are you? What kind of prepper or Patriot are you? As we all begin a new year, it is time to decide these questions honestly, and with a purpose. Not going to judge anyone as to who is worthy and who is not. That is a question for YOU to decide.

Where did the tree come from? Why do we carol? Why is fruit cake a THING? How to bring the joy of christmas back without enabling con artists and breaking the bank. Also, which charities actually are good for the communities - and which ones have secrets